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Sway - Microsoft
Grades
3 to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Microsoft Sway is an online tool from Microsoft that lets users design interactive presentations, newsletters, and digital stories that display smoothly on any device. It allows you...more
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Microsoft Sway is an online tool from Microsoft that lets users design interactive presentations, newsletters, and digital stories that display smoothly on any device. It allows you to easily drag and drop text, photos, videos, and links from your computer, social media, or the web directly into your project. After signing in with a Microsoft account or creating one with your email, you can build your story using a simple, scroll-based layout. The Design tab provides options to personalize colors, fonts, and layouts, while the Share feature makes it simple to publish through a link, post to social media, or embed on a website. Sway works in all modern browsers, and while its iOS app is no longer updated, the web version remains fully functional. Instructional videos and tutorials are hosted on YouTube, though schools that block YouTube may not be able to access them. Microsoft has confirmed that Sway will continue to operate, though it has been removed from the Microsoft 365 Copilot "Create" tab due to low usage. Some tools, such as in-app audio and video recording, have been retired, but users can still embed multimedia files. The core features remain supported through sway.office.com and the Microsoft 365 Apps section, though no major updates are planned.
tag(s): communication (125), digital storytelling (181), Microsoft (50), multimedia (70), slides (39), visualizations (15)
In the Classroom
Use Sway as an alternative to Prezi or PowerPoint presentations. Sway is perfect for use in your BYOD or 1:1 classroom. Use during your presentations to increase student engagement and interaction. Check your ENL/ESL students' understanding by having them respond or ask questions throughout the presentation. Enhance student learning and understanding by sharing with students for use during their own presentations, and inviting other students to comment and answer questions. During Open House night with parents, demonstrate how Sway provides interaction. Use Sway during professional development presentations to invite colleagues to discuss.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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StoryMap JS - Northwest University Knight Lab
Grades
7 to 12
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0 Comments
Make your story-telling come to life in any content area with this free tool! Story Map uses a map or pictures to tell the story. The simple editor in this ...more
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Make your story-telling come to life in any content area with this free tool! Story Map uses a map or pictures to tell the story. The simple editor in this tool syncs to Google Drive editor to create a storymap. The created storymap is a sequence of slides for a map location or image that includes a heading, text, and even images and embedded video. The map or image and included information appear side by side. You can click between the slides connecting one location to another (or portions of an image to another). Your story is now interactive! To use: Follow the prompts to connect your Google Drive to the tool. Choose the type of story to create, Map or Gigapixel (image). Don't worry about the map image showing on the first page. When building a map, the front page will include the portion of the World Map based on map points throughout the project (ex. USA or Europe). Add a headline and detail to the appropriate areas. Include links and change font to bold and italic if desired. Add images to any page by uploading from your computer (through Google Drive) or by entering a link to an image. Enter the URL of the Vimeo or YouTube video you wish to use. Need help? Click on the Gigapixel tab along the top for help in uploading images and videos. The Media box not only has an area for the URL, but also an area to enter a caption and credit for the image. Add additional pages by clicking "Add Slide" in the left-hand menu. Add points to your map, one per slide, by typing the building, street, city, and country. Use the zoom bar in the top left to find the location. Customize the map style, background color, and font using the Options buttons. Click Share to send through social media or to use an embed code. The embed code can be used in any site, adjusting its width for different sites. If using Gigapixel, use a large image (as the image will literally be the "map" and your points move around the image). Save your image to Google Drive and copy the URL of the image as you will need it in the first step.
tag(s): maps (220), stories and storytelling (81), timelines (60)
In the Classroom
Be sure to stress Fair Use and Copyright with students when using online images and crediting sources. Find great resources and information on TeachersFirst. Of course, if possible use your own images. In Science, use this tool to upload a picture of a science experiment from class and retell the story of the "experiment" by connecting with each of the individual parts of the image. In a Technology class, use this tool to create a project of anything that could be considered "mappable." Some examples include a timeline tour of an event, tour routes of a favorite band, the movement of a character in a movie or novel, or various events in a War. Find various shapes in nature and buildings for a Geometry class, showing their locations in a map. This tool would be wonderful for gifted students to showcase an interest or extend learning from a concept learned in class. Use this tool to trace the history of various recipes or ingredients in a Family and Consumer Science class. Trace the history of people, religions, and events. In Science, create a tour of various animals found in specific areas of a given biome or locations of various types of rocks and their information around the world.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Hacktivity Kits - Mozilla
Grades
8 to 12
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What better way to learn than through making? Collaborate and make items for the web using these webmaker tools. These Hacktivity Kits are easy for anyone to organize a session ...more
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What better way to learn than through making? Collaborate and make items for the web using these webmaker tools. These Hacktivity Kits are easy for anyone to organize a session and learn about creating items for the Internet. Use these kits to facilitate classes that focus on webmaking. Each section includes what you will need to consider to prepare for using the kits. Kits include sample lessons, projects, and activities. Find documents (cheat sheet for HTML!) that can be printed in each of the Resources sections. Use activities that assess progress and even provide badges. Each kit has a Big Picture, Objectives, Questions, and all related material. Find a variety of kits: X-Ray Goggles, Popcorn, Thimble, Online Storytelling, Revolutions in Media, Make It Share It, and more. As the name suggests, the Hacktivity kits can be hacked as well. Choose the parts that work for your class and expand upon others when more resources are needed. Since the products are created for the web, the tools used to make them are web applications. The recommended browsers include Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. Note: It is important that all browsers be updated to the latest versions in order to use the web application effectively. Be sure to click "View Additional Resources" for one page documents including readings, cheat sheets, checklists, how-to's, and FAQ's. Click "View All Hacktivities" for simple activities such as Icebreakers. Explore Hands on Hacking, to delve deeper into the material.
tag(s): digital storytelling (181), images (275), stories and storytelling (81)
In the Classroom
Share this site and the possibilities on your interactive whiteboard or projector. These kits would be good for gifted students interested in web creation. Use these kits in an advanced Technology class or club. Know a talented student who is interested in web creation (or think he/she might be)? Create a spark for web creation in the next generation! Share this link on your class website for students to explore on their own.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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PastBook - PastBook P.V.
Grades
K to 12
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0 Comments
PastBook is a wonderful site for creating online photo albums,wall calendars, poster,cards, or photo books. You can even use your Facebook and Instagram photos, etc. into a photobook!...more
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PastBook is a wonderful site for creating online photo albums,wall calendars, poster,cards, or photo books. You can even use your Facebook and Instagram photos, etc. into a photobook! Choose "Create" to begin. Add a title, description, and pictures by uploading from your computer or social network accounts. Provide the text to describe images and a date if desired. When ready, choose "Create Your Book/Calendar, etc." to complete the process. View finished products online or download for free in PDF format. Invite others to collaborate on your product through social networking links. Privacy settings allow only those with the URL to view your work. This tool is available on the web and iPhone. Sign-in using your email or FaceBook account. You can invite people via email or SMS.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): calendars (37), digital storytelling (181), images (275), photography (136), portfolios (20), posters (46)
In the Classroom
Use a class PastBook account to keep track of the day-to-day happenings in your classroom (especially for younger grades). Consider creating albums of specific events such as field trips, service projects, hands-on activities, field experiences such as watershed studies, and more. Have students create portfolios for art and photography classes. Create a magazine of photos that portray different history and social topics. Set the scenes for novels or stories. Explain a specific science concept (using Creative Commons images AND proper credit). Anywhere photos can be used to showcase achievement or explain a concept, this service would be an excellent resource. Learning support, speech, ENL/ESL, autistic support, or world language teachers can collect images into "magazines" for students to practice/develop speech and vocabulary.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Acapela.tv Talking Cards - Acapela Group
Grades
K to 8
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Acapela uses a text-to-speech application to create short videos using your text. Choose a thumbnail to begin, then follow the directions to add speech. Some videos also include an...more
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Acapela uses a text-to-speech application to create short videos using your text. Choose a thumbnail to begin, then follow the directions to add speech. Some videos also include an option to add an image. Options let you choose from several languages. This is an excellent choice for ESL/ELL learners. When finished, the share options allow you to send via email or via social networking links. NOTE: Do NOT click on any of the "download" or "play now" links on the side or top of the page. Click directly on the video thumbnails to use them. This site contains quite a few advertisements and links that lead away from the site. Demonstrate how to use and stay away from these links before allowing students to use them on their own.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): animation (71), text to speech (24)
In the Classroom
Have students create their own short video using short stories or poems they have created. Create your own video to display on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) giving your class directions for a project or announcing class events or projects. Have ESL/ELL students (or any student with special speech needs) copy and paste their work into a video to hear their words come to life.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Trading Card Creator - ReadWriteThink
Grades
2 to 9
3 Favorites
1 Comments
Follow the step by step directions to create a photo trading card using this tool. Create real or fictional Trading Cards about people, places, events, objects, or abstract concepts....more
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Follow the step by step directions to create a photo trading card using this tool. Create real or fictional Trading Cards about people, places, events, objects, or abstract concepts. Follow the prompts to complete the information and choose whether to save as a draft or final. You can share via email or print.
tag(s): back to school (56), biographies (100), book reports (26), characterization (16), study aid (177)
In the Classroom
Use the main character in a story your class recently read and demonstrate this tool using your projector or interactive whiteboard. Social studies classes can portray a famous person or event in history. Science classes can develop trading cards for plants, planets, cells, or just about anything else you study. In a geography class, use cards to describe a place. Students can use trading cards to help them remember facts and vocabulary from any class. Teacher-librarians can encourage students to make trading cards about books or authors. Use cards at the beginning of the year for students to create a trading card about themselves. After sharing with classmates, post them on a bulletin board for back-to-school night.Comments
Sal, , Grades: 0 - 12
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Rootbook - Rootbook
Grades
2 to 12
2 Favorites
1 Comments
Rootbook is an interactive story reading and writing program. Without signing up, you can read books in English, German, Italian, and many other languages. Once registered (requires...more
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Rootbook is an interactive story reading and writing program. Without signing up, you can read books in English, German, Italian, and many other languages. Once registered (requires an email, player name & password), you can create your own stories to save. Registering allows you to submit reviews of the stories available on the site. Rootbook says they will soon have filters to monitor inappropriate language. Until then, read stories and branches prior to sharing with young people. Leave a comment if you find anything offensive, and they will remove it.
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This site includes advertising.
tag(s): creative writing (126), digital storytelling (181), interactive stories (23), narrative (17), writing (310)
In the Classroom
To use Rootbook and save work, students will need an email account. If students cannot have their own email accounts, consider using a "class set" of Gmail sub-accounts, explained here. This will provide anonymous interaction within your class, and you (as the Gmail account holder) will be able to go into each Rootbook account to check progress. Begin by choosing a story and reading it as a class. Give the students scratch paper to create storyboards and have them continue the story. Then collect the papers and have them write their continuation again on someone else's paper. Next, ask students to end the story and switch again, and write their ending on this new paper. Doing this will help younger students understand the "branching" story line. If students are sitting in groups of four, they can just rotate the papers around for this activity. When students want to create their story on Rootbook, be sure to have them upload an image for the cover first and plan the story using a graphic organizer! As subject matter for stories in any curriculum area, tell a science story, such as the life of a butterfly or a history story such as what happened (and could have happened) at the Boston Tea Party.Comments
Offers skill development for teachers after not teaching language for yearsEllen, VA, Grades: 0 - 12
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Calameo - Jean-Olivier de Berard and Mathieu Quisefit
Grades
2 to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Publish, share, and browse interactive web publications with Calameo. Sign up for an account using your email or Facebook account. Upload documents in most common formats such as Microsoft...more
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Publish, share, and browse interactive web publications with Calameo. Sign up for an account using your email or Facebook account. Upload documents in most common formats such as Microsoft Office, Adobe PDF, and OpenOffice. Use the link editor to add YouTube, DailyMotion, Vimeo, and SoundCloud content to your magazine. Share completed publications through a unique URL or embed directly into your website or blog. Calameo is available in many languages. Be sure to check Calameo's help links to find full features and suggestions for use. Use caution when allowing students to explore this site on their own, as some content may not be appropriate for the classroom.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): creative writing (126), digital storytelling (181)
In the Classroom
Use this site to engage students in Writing for Digital Publication, an important part of the Common Core. In social studies or government class have individual students or small groups design magazines for the candidate of their choice. Remember those travel brochures your world language students used to make with glue sticks and scissors? Try this online tool instead. World language students can also create an interactive magazine telling a story in their new language. In science class students can design a booklet to explain cells, life cycles, or any science topic. Instead of a book report, try a digital magazine. Do an author study via a digital magazine. Create a poetry magazine. Have your ESL/ELL students create a bilingual magazine in English AND their native language. Create digital magazines for any subject or topic: explain an event in history, demonstrate different types of animals or habitats. Create an ongoing Calameo magazine of class activities.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
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Classroom Authors - Classroom Authors
Grades
1 to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Classroom Authors uses four easy steps to publish an e-book or a printed book: writing, editing, proofing, and publishing. Teachers create an account and a project. Have students join...more
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Classroom Authors uses four easy steps to publish an e-book or a printed book: writing, editing, proofing, and publishing. Teachers create an account and a project. Have students join the project with a code. Every student with the project code will have a chapter to create. Student accounts require email, but they can use a parent email address or an "+" extension of the teacher's email address, for instance, myemail+studentname@myschool.org. All students invited to the project can work on their section on multiple computers at the same time. Adding content is as easy as using a word processing program and uploading images to the gallery. Drag and drop the images into the chapter. Students can view the entire book, but can edit only their own chapter. Teachers have complete control over editing, style, and leaving comments. There are default templates, so the books you create look professional. Customize to give the book your own look. Classroom Authors is not only a vehicle for publishing; it will also meet the Common Core Standard requirements for using technology to collaborate and write across the curriculum. The best part of this site is that it is EASY to use! Classroom Authors uses ePub to format e-books and offers one free printed book for each published project that has 10 or more students collaborating. Beyond that, there is a cost for printed books. E-books are FREE.
tag(s): creative writing (126), descriptive writing (46), ebooks (49), process writing (35), writing (310)
In the Classroom
Research proves publishing improves writing skills. Use Classroom Authors for class newsletters, an anthology of student written stories, and creating "choose your own adventure" type stories. Use this tool for research or opinion pieces in world language classes, science, math, or social studies. Some teachers have their students write novels for National Novel Writing Month, and at Classroom Authors they will be able to publish them.Edge Features:
Includes an education-only area for teachers and students
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
Includes teacher tools for registering and/or monitoring students
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Power Poetry - Power Poetry
Grades
8 to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Encourage budding poets with Power Poetry. Power Poetry's mission is to close the literacy gap through poetry. This is a community where young people of all backgrounds come together...more
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Encourage budding poets with Power Poetry. Power Poetry's mission is to close the literacy gap through poetry. This is a community where young people of all backgrounds come together to process their emotions using poetry. Find challenges to write about social issues or to write a poem in only 140 characters. Scroll down the page and point out the topic "7 Famous Poetic Pop Songs" where students are sure to recognize current singer/song writers. Find many supportive community members to encourage you to develop your voice. From the dropdown menu on the top click Resources then Teachers to find lesson plans, a free "How to Teach Poetry" course, and lots more. Poets are free to write about any subject; however, there are site guidelines to prevent hate speech and other inappropriate content. Join with a username and email address. On your profile, there is the option of sharing your first name and last initial, profile picture, and a short biography. You can message each other within the site, but this feature can be disabled from account settings.
tag(s): poetry (196), social and emotional learning (207)
In the Classroom
Encourage your most avid writers to submit their poetry to this site. Use your whiteboard or projector to show them the "Take Action Guides." There you will find many issues of concern to youth today. Most students will enjoy uniting multimedia, poetry, and activism in one place. Challenge your students to choose a contemorary poet, either from this site's list or one they know of, and study their poetic form, then to write a poem in that poet's style. Enhance learning by having students keep a blog using a tool like Penzu, reviewed here, to write down their thoughts as they investigate different parts of this site. This will help them when it comes time to write their own poem. With Penzu you can add images or your own artwork as illustrations. Then extend learning by having students either publish their poems on the site or by using a multimedia tool like Genially, reviewed here, and publish their poems on your classroom or school web page. Counselors may want to encourage disenfranchised students to join the site and write about their deepest feelings. This is a supportive community that encourages students to develop their own voice.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Alice - Carnegie Mellon University
Grades
6 to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Alice will have your students in wonderland as they use this innovative 3D programming environment targeted to middle and high school students. Be the director of a movie or the ...more
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Alice will have your students in wonderland as they use this innovative 3D programming environment targeted to middle and high school students. Be the director of a movie or the creator of a video game. 3D objects appear in an on-screen virtual world imagined by the creator and move around according to the directions you give by dragging and dropping tiles. The drag and drop technique provides a more engaging programming experience for first-time programmers. Alice provides exposure to object-oriented programming. Alice has practical value for students to learn how computers think. The instructions correspond to standard statements in a production oriented programming language, such as Java, C++, and C#. While using Alice, programmers can immediately see how their animation program runs and the behavior of the objects in their animation. Manipulate camera angles and lighting to make further enhancements. Alice is a revolutionary method to teach programming, especially to first-time learners. It allows students to understand programming concepts, a 21st-century skill.
tag(s): animation (71), coding (111), digital storytelling (181), problem solving (287)
In the Classroom
Be sure to check with your Technology Department, as many districts require authorization to download or install new applications. Plan ahead as you request that this application be installed on your classroom or laptop cart computers. Alice provides an opportunity to enhance learning for students by creating and learning how to problem solve. Subscribe to the teacher list to receive updates and integration ideas for Alice. The purpose of this list is to provide an easy way to ask questions and collaborate with the Alice teaching community. View and use activities to increase programming knowledge and the use of the Alice program.Students quickly catch on to Alice when allowed to play and easily see what they can make from it. Provide a simple assignment with defined rules/tasks to learn the tools as well as the drag and drop interface. Have students use a storyboard to organize their creation in order to keep tabs on students and their creations. Replace the paper and pencil storyboard by using a digital storyboard like Story Map, reviewed here, or Storyboarder, reviewed here. Build games to review curricular material for assessments. Have students create videos or digital stories to bring a subject to life. Teachers of gifted can turn their students loose to create animations about individual interests or research projects.
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FanFiction - FanFiction/FictionPress
Grades
6 to 12
0 Favorites
0 Comments
Disappointed that your favorite book or TV series has ended? Satisfy your craving on FanFiction. Discover FanFiction stories written by up-and-coming writers based on your favorite...more
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Disappointed that your favorite book or TV series has ended? Satisfy your craving on FanFiction. Discover FanFiction stories written by up-and-coming writers based on your favorite comic, cartoon, movie, book, television show, or other genre. Read and vote for your favorites or even write your own. Whether you are a fan of fiction or like to dabble with writing, take a look at FanFiction. Fanfiction authors write new stories about characters from their favorite books (movies, TV series, etc.). Read to your heart's content and leave a comment without even signing in. To create and submit your own writing you need to sign up with an email. Click on the genre of your choice to get started! This site can be accessed in a variety of languages. Click the small "mobile forum" icon at the top to use on mobile iOs or Android devices.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): creative writing (126), novels (34), short stories (18), writing (310)
In the Classroom
It is amazing how students will polish their writing for an authentic audience! Demonstrate how to use FanFiction with your projector or interactive whiteboard. Show students the different genres and have them read a selection or two from an amateur writer to see how it works. Have student pairs or trios work together on a piece for a favorite book. There is also a miscellaneous category you could use to have students add a different ending or write from a different point of view based on any short story you use in class. They can also submit in the poetry category. Use 121 Writing reviewed here to proof student writing and make suggestions (verbally if your choose to) before they submit to FanFiction. For students to develop and polish their writing skills, use a program such as Slick Write reviewed here. Create a FanFiction account with a class email and have students work on their piece using a nickname or acronym. Since FanFiction can be accessed in several languages, this program would work well in an ESL/ELL classroom.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Medium - Ev Williams
Grades
10 to 12
0 Favorites
0 Comments
Medium is a site for sharing personal writing and stories. The focus is on the actual writing, rather than the extras like images, widgets, and other website clutter. You can ...more
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Medium is a site for sharing personal writing and stories. The focus is on the actual writing, rather than the extras like images, widgets, and other website clutter. You can use images to illustrate your point; however, the focus remains on the words. Upload your writing, and then link with other similar ideas to become more collaborative. One unique feature is the "get help before you publish" button. This allows others to engage and offer suggestions before publishing your work. If using the site for reading, options include following writers and finding articles with similar content through the use of tags. This tool is intended as a community for sharing among serious authors, not as a "school tool," so adult supervision is recommended. Not all topics are appropriate for the classroom. So be sure to PREVIEW.
tag(s): creative writing (126), persuasive writing (50), writers workshop (30)
In the Classroom
Medium is similar to an ever changing and updating magazine. Talk about the etiquette of interacting as authentic writers, not "just a student." Use Medium to find and share interesting pieces of writing with students for independent reading or class discussions. Each article shows a suggested reading time, making it easy to choose a length that is appropriate for your needs. Have students create and share their writing using Medium as a resource for finding a broader reading audience. Have students locate and read articles of interest on Medium and write and post a response of their own. Common Core requires teens (grades 10-12) to write, respond, and revise based on input from a digital audience, and Medium could be an ideal tool for such interaction. Are you new to Twitter or looking for more ways to use Twitter in the classroom? Read more about Twitter at TeachersFirst's Twitter for Teachers page.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Cube Creator - Read Write Think
Grades
2 to 12
4 Favorites
0 Comments
The Cube Creator offers four different options for creating and personalizing a printable cube for summarizing or story-telling: Bio Cube, Mystery Cube, Story Cube, or Create your Own...more
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The Cube Creator offers four different options for creating and personalizing a printable cube for summarizing or story-telling: Bio Cube, Mystery Cube, Story Cube, or Create your Own Cube. Follow prompts to create the cube. The planning sheets help you collect information before making the actual printable cube. Once you have entered all your information, print and follow directions to assemble the paper cube. Follow links to find lessons that use this interactive as well as suggestions for other uses. There are lessons for grades 3-4 up through grades 11-12. Note: Read Write Think has added the capability for students to save their work to continue later. In the last paragraph of the Overview, there is a link to watch the video: Saving Work With the Student Interactives.
tag(s): back to school (56), biographies (100), firstday (27), mysteries (28), printables (35), study aid (177), summarizing (30), word study (59)
In the Classroom
Use the Cube Creator for virtually any lesson or activity as a substitute for a paper and pen project. Try printing on heavier card stock so cubes are durable. Create a cube to practice math problems, describe habitats, outline important story events, and much more. Have students create a cube and share with other students to practice retelling, summarizing, adding synonyms, or review for tests. Have each of your students create an All About Me cube for parents to view at Open House or to get to know each other during the first week of school. Have others guess which cube belongs to which classmate. Create a cube review game where others must answer the question that comes up when you "roll" the cube. The possibilities are endless. Challenge your gifted student(s) to create a "Who Am I?" cube about a famous person they research. Use the Bio Cube option with one variation: DO NOT include the person's real name. Share the cube as a game for the rest of the class to guess (and then create their own similar cubes). Your gifted students may also come up with new ways to Create Your Own Cube that could become a class game! Invite them to try their creativity.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Classtools Twister: Create Fake Tweets - Classtools
Grades
6 to 12
8 Favorites
0 Comments
Create an X (formerly Twitter) wall and fake tweet quickly and easily by entering minimal information. Enter a (fake) user name, full name of the person you are impersonating, your...more
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Create an X (formerly Twitter) wall and fake tweet quickly and easily by entering minimal information. Enter a (fake) user name, full name of the person you are impersonating, your tweet, and a date to show on the tweet. Your tweet will appear on a wall with an image of that person ready to share through links provided at the bottom of the page. Twister also includes several ideas for consideration when creating an update such as possible hashtags and most important moments to include. Share via social networks or simply COPY the URL of your finished Twister page to share it. There is also an option to save as a PDF for easy printing.
tag(s): creative writing (126), digital storytelling (181), social networking (55)
In the Classroom
Share examples found at this site on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) to demonstrate possible uses. This site is wonderful for creating interest in many subjects. It is perfect for the social studies classroom as a quick end of class review or homework assignment to summarize each day's lesson. Write about presidents, founding fathers, famous scientists or artists, a Civil War soldier, and much more. Use Twister to study literature, create an update for the central character, book's author, or the setting of the book or play. For a unique twist in science class, create a Twister update for a periodic element or another science topic. Use the update to describe "the life" of that atom or element. The possibilities within the classroom are endless (as is the creativity and engagement)! In World language classes, have students do this activity (about themselves) in the new language they are learning. Create a Twister update for the first day of school to introduce yourself to students or at Open House for parents. In the media center, have students create twister pages for authors or about favorite books. Challenge students to create and share an update about themselves during the first week of school.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Quest - Alex Warren
Grades
5 to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Create text-based adventure games and interactive fiction using Quest! No programming language required. You can also play games already designed by others. Choose the "play" option...more
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Create text-based adventure games and interactive fiction using Quest! No programming language required. You can also play games already designed by others. Choose the "play" option from the top of the web page to view and play games such as The Mansion or Shipwrecked. Play games online or download to your Windows computer. Design your own games online using your web browser or download software to your Windows PC to work offline. Create an account in Quest to begin creating activities. View the video tutorial for an overview of the activities and creation processes. Create rooms and objects or tasks for each room. Create more complex games by following complete instructions found in the web browser version of the game system creator. Add sound files and even videos to games in addition to tasks. An option allows players to choose their own endings to games. There is a documentation wiki and a forum to get help. This site may require some tinkering around to figure it out! But it is well worth the time. Note: since games available for Play are created by the general public, you will want to preview for appropriateness.
tag(s): interactive stories (23), process writing (35)
In the Classroom
Challenge students to create games when studying process writing of essays. Instead of writing a dry essay, create an object of entertainment with an interactive story. Use steps of the game to provide supporting evidence for the essay. Create simple text games to show the typical patterns of stories. Have a contest to see which group of students in your class can imagine the best game scenario. In science class, have student groups create games that follow the life of a plant or animal where players collect all the needed nutrients or conditions the plant/animal needs to survive. In civics/government class, have students create a game around getting elected, passing a bill, or ending Washington gridlock! Don't have time to have your students actually CREATE a game? Create your own "review" game for your students to use to prepare for the big test. This would be ideal if it is a unit that you teach yearly; you can reuse your game! Share some of the ready-made games on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Share this link with parents on your class website. Students may enjoy the challenge of creating a game during summer break.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Phrase.it - phrase.it
Grades
7 to 12
12 Favorites
0 Comments
Add cartoon speech bubbles to any photo in seconds using Phrase.it. NO membership required! Choose a photo from your Facebook feed, computer, or from the site's random stock photo collection....more
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Add cartoon speech bubbles to any photo in seconds using Phrase.it. NO membership required! Choose a photo from your Facebook feed, computer, or from the site's random stock photo collection. Pick one of the 4 different types of speech bubbles, drag to any part of the image, and type in text. Change fonts by clicking the text box until satisfied. Change your image by applying one of the optional filters or leave it as is. When finished, click on the Save button and add your email if you want to receive a download link. You are also able to mark your photo PRIVATE. Once the image is saved and rendered, you can simply copy its URL, share via email, Facebook, or X (formerly Twitter), or download to your computer. The Terms of Use require students to be 13 to use this site.
tag(s): bulletin boards (12), comics and cartoons (69), communication (125), images (275), noregistration (74)
In the Classroom
The possibilities are limited only by your imagination. Teach parts of speech and grammar by having students write captions using colorful adjectives, adverbs, or specific sentence structures on a random photo. Make classroom signs and reminders. Caption the homework directions on your teacher web page. Ask your students to create captions for class photos for all sorts of reasons. Use this site for back to school fun. Post a photo of yourself with a caption on your class website introducing yourself to the class during the summer. Challenge each student to find/share a photo of themselves either the first week of school (or even prior to school). You will want parental permission before posting any student photos on your class website. Use photos or digital drawings from your classroom, such as pictures taken during any hands-on activity. Have students draw in a paint program, save the file, and then add a caption. Spice up research projects about historic figures or important scientists. Have literary characters "talk" as part of a project. In a government class, add captions to photos explaining politicians' major platform planks during election campaigns. Caption the steps for math problem solving. Make visual vocabulary/terminology sentences with an appropriate character using the term in context (a beaker explaining how it is different from a flask?). Students could also take pictures of themselves doing a lab and then caption the pictures to explain the concepts. Share the class captions on your class web page or wiki. Leave directions to your class (for when a substitute is there). Use at back to school night to grab parent attention to important announcements. Have students make talking photos of themselves as a visual tour of their new classroom for parents attending back to school night. World language classes can create images explaining and using new vocabulary. Use the site's random photo offerings for clever caption contests in your new language. Have gifted students create Phase.it pictures to explain new knowledge they gain in going beyond the basics. For example, as the class studies plate tectonics, they could make a collection of volcano images "explaining" their own history or describing the Ring of Fire. Gifted students of all ages can make simple Phrase.it images to share their own thought provoking questions about curriculum content, such as "Which figure of speech would Shakespeare be willing to give up?" Be sure to include these thought provokers on a class wiki or blog for others to respond! (No need to single out the "thinker" by mentioning who created it if it would cause ridicule.)Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Telescopic Text - Joe Davis
Grades
2 to 12
12 Favorites
0 Comments
Looking to write with more detail and description? Telescopic Text is a humorous way to demonstrate the art of elaboration. Type a short simple sentence (or line of poetry). Click ...more
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Looking to write with more detail and description? Telescopic Text is a humorous way to demonstrate the art of elaboration. Type a short simple sentence (or line of poetry). Click on a word or phrase and add a little bit more detail. Through this site, you will learn how to identify words or phrases to expand on, creating passages that are more meaningful. Once the sentence (or more likely a paragraph) is complete, replay the writing process. The text can be either "unfolded" (opened up) or "folded" (narrowed down). It is just as easy to reverse the writing process. Start with a long piece of text, and practice how to eliminate words or phrases. This site presents the writing process as a lighthearted play of words. Telescopic Text is an opportunity to generate writing ideas. There is a published library with a few examples posted that are for teacher use. Anyone can write his or her own text without having to register. Register to be able to save, manage, and publish your writing! Be sure to check out the "How to Use" portion of the site for a complete explanation.
tag(s): descriptive writing (46), paragraph writing (18), parts of speech (39), sentences (23), study aid (177)
In the Classroom
Use this site to support a mini-lesson about word choice, meaning, elaboration, or the importance of using detail and description. It would also be a way to build imagery into a poetry writing lesson. Project this site onto an interactive whiteboard or projector for whole class or small group exploration. Use the examples already posted or create your own to demonstrate how the tool works. After the mini-lesson, have students work in small groups to create a telescopic text (or poem) of their own. This website lends itself to a powerful mini-lesson or to craft lessons that will really "stick".Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Peek: Create Your Perfect Day - Ruzwana Bashir and Oskar Gruening
Grades
5 to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Visit Peek and "Create Your Perfect Day." Register using email and a password. Pick a city or area to visit. Start planning your day using the prompts provided for morning, ...more
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Visit Peek and "Create Your Perfect Day." Register using email and a password. Pick a city or area to visit. Start planning your day using the prompts provided for morning, afternoon, evening, and night activities. Choose from pictures provided based on your input or upload your own. When finished, publish to share your "perfect day" via it's unique URL or through social media sharing links. This site is part of a travel website. The main page includes many activities (with prices). Avoid the homepage and go directly to "Create Your Perfect Day."
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): creative writing (126), local history (12), virtual field trips (150)
In the Classroom
Although this is not a typical "educational" site, the possibilities for classroom use are unlimited. Have students create their perfect day using the site as a story starter or creative writing prompt. Use the site to plan a virtual field trip anywhere. Have students create a day in the life of a story character, famous person from history, or in the career of their choosing. Retell any important date in history using Peek as a guideline. Teach budget planning by having students research and plan a perfect travel day. World language or world cultures classes can use this to create a day focused on the cultural riches of the country they are studying. Language students can write about it in their new language. After students create their perfect day, create an online folder or wiki page with links to all of the "perfect days" for other students to use as writing prompts (creative or informational). Share all students' perfect days on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Use this site to create a perfect day for visitors to your school or community.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Products can be shared by URL
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
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mailDiary - mailDiary.net
Grades
3 to 12
5 Favorites
0 Comments
Check out this online journal with a twist. Each day the site sends an email with questions about your day to prompt you to write. Respond to the email with ...more
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Check out this online journal with a twist. Each day the site sends an email with questions about your day to prompt you to write. Respond to the email with your entry for automatic posting. Images can also be added to entries. Personalize the site using your choice of color and fonts. View entries as a PDF for easy printing as desired. Register with an email and unique name for your diary.
tag(s): blogs (82), creative writing (126), journals (27), writing (310), writing prompts (55)
In the Classroom
Create a diary with a message to your students each day. Have students keep a diary of their first week at school. They can re-read this at the end of the school year. Have students keep a diary of a famous person for a character in a story that you have been reading in class. Ask students to write a diary about a picture that you have sent to them. Have students write diary entries from the point of view of soldiers, presidents, scientists, and more. Prompt a giving diary during the holiday season with students writing about what they GAVE to someone else each day.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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